Week Ten {complete}

When I look back to November when I decided to start running again, it feels like it's been a long time. 

But in reality that was only 10 weeks ago.

I have 4 weeks left in my 10K Runner plan and what looked like impossible lengths of time to run just a few months ago are now the runs I am enjoying and looking forward to.  This program really does work!

I know I'm not finished but I'm in the homestretch which makes me super excited.  I've made it 10 weeks without injury, no missed workouts, and most importantly I've gone from no running to being able to run for an hour.

I'm running the allotted time with no problems; it's hard at times but definitely not impossible. What I am lacking is speed.  I am sloooww!  Today marked 60 minutes of running which is the peak of the plan so the way I figure it, the next 4 weeks I can work a little on my speed and keep building my fitness base.

I run my first 10K on February 23rd {gulp} and I'm really nervous about that. 

So in these last 4 weeks my goals include:

• increase my confidence
• increase my fitness
• increase my speed {safely}
• improve my diet {I haven't been paying the best attention here}
• cross-train more consistently

That last goal just got easier for two reasons... my thrift shop king neighbor found a brand new elliptical for $125 and thought of me and I just started watching Downton Abbey to see what the big deal was and my time on the elliptical flew by yesterday. :)  It really is a good show!

Jolly Ranchers

Is it just me or do these shoes look like Jolly Ranchers??

The normal colored shoes in the background are my beloved Mizuno Wave Riders.  So are the candy shoes.  See, when I find a shoe I like I've been known to buy multiple pairs.  Like 5 or 6 pairs.

So when I found the candy shoes here for $62 {50% off} with free shipping I couldn't help myself.  Steve was so excited too! ;)

I could have purchased another pair identical to my current shoes but these look like way more fun...

In running news, I'm finishing week 9 of my 10K program.  I can't believe I only have 4 weeks left!  Next week begins mixing in intervals which I'm actually excited about.  I'm not at the point where I care about being super fast but I know the intervals will still help me improve as an overall runner.

As for my overall health, I was told today at work that I need to have a new picture taken because the old one doesn't look like me.  Yay!  I'm still going with the "no scale" approach but my clothes are definitely looser and I guess it's becoming obvious to some of the people around me.

I'm struggling with a little plantar fasciitis in my right foot but so far stretching, rolling a golf ball along the bottom of my foot, and icing are doing the trick.  I've been really tempted to add a 4th day of running to my week but for now I know I'm better off cross-training instead so that my foot doesn't get worse.

Oh, and if you happen to be the crafty type and you are looking for something to do, I have this new tutorial available that is super easy and fun.  Try it out and in about 15 minutes you will have your own non-slip headband that won't cost you $20!

Have a happy weekend!

Gluten Free?

Last Friday I blogged over here about the recent health changes I've made.  I had covered most of those changes in pretty good detail here but I wanted to catch my other blog up on what's been going on with me.  That also gave me the chance to introduce them to this blog as well if they happen to be quilters/sewists who like to run, workout, cook healthy, etc...

To sum things up, I had a lot of health issues last fall.  After about a month I started feeling somewhat better but I still had lingering aches and pains in my joints as well as random fevers and knock you down fatigue.  Looking back, I had been feeling like that for a long time, I had just ignored it because that's what I do best... ignore pain.

I ended up being diagnosed with fibromyalgia but I never fully accepted that that as what was wrong with me.  And I certainly was not willing to accept the multiple prescriptions the rheumatologist wanted me to take.  So instead of loading up on drugs I decided to start exercising and change how we ate.

These changes have definitely helped but I have still not been feeling 100%.  I wrote about that last week on my other blog and then I had a reader email me Monday morning to share that I had many of her same symptoms and she found that she had a gluten intolerance.  The results she experienced from cutting gluten out of her diet in a fairly short amount of time were amazing!

I don't know how to describe it other than a nagging thought about gluten and what it may be doing to my health but that feeling has been lurking around since last fall when I was so sick.  Now I don't know if this is the cure all but it's certainly worth a try because in looking at what gluten is in, I would be giving up things that I probably shouldn't be eating much of anyways.

The way I see it, even if it doesn't help my physical symptoms, it's still one step closer to eating healthy so I guess it's a win-win situation.

Here's a few links I've found that have been very helpful so far:
The Gluten-Free Goddess
Gluten Free Eating for Runners
Gluten Free

If you are eating a gluten-free diet or have in the past, I'd love to hear about it! 

Resolution Run 5K recap

Ufff.... I should probably consider a hat the next time it's rainy and 100% humidity ;)

This isn't going to be one of those fancy mile-by-mile/how I was feeling race reports because that really wasn't what I was focusing on with this race.  Chaney ran this one with me so I was more in "mom mode" than competitive-want-to-run-fast mode which is good place to be for me.

Mile 1 - 10:02 pace.  Not too bad.  And then Chaney needed to walk...

Mile 2 - 14:35 pace.  It was raining by this point and it was getting colder.  I tried explaining to Chaney that the more we ran, the faster we would be done.  Her response, "I like running in the rain!".  And then she started skipping.

Mile 3 - 16:55 pace.  By this point Chaney was noticing and commenting on people's shoes.  I knew we were offcially done at this point LOL!

.10 - I don't know... at this point I was holding Chaney's handing trying to encourage her to keep going while not looking like a crazy mother dragging her kid along the path.  I think I succeded.

We were soaking by the time we were finished but very proud as well!

Things learned...

According to Chaney, a 5K is a lot further than she thought. ;)

I learned how to slow down and enjoy the experience of my daughter's first race.  Time didn't matter; what mattered was helping her to have enough fun so that she would want to keep running.  I think we succeed there because yesterday she was asking about The Color Run and when we could do that race.  Success!!

The downside...

Running in the rain gave me a horrible blister on the ball of my left foot that runs along the scar from my foot surgery.  I got some great advice on treating blisters and it feels 100% better today. 

But because of that blister I started running funny and now I have plantar fasciitis flaring up in my right foot.  Yay.

Today is a rest day for me so other than some aggressive stretching, I'm taking it very easy.

The recap...

I felt great and I know I could have run the entire race with no issues which really helps my confidence and I move closer to my goal of a 10K.

Chaney fell a little more in love with running and is already looking out for our next race.

And the best part... we spent quality time together, we shared a fun experience of doing something healthy, and we learned not to quit and how good it feels to finish.

I'll take those accomplishments over a PR almost any day!

Resolutions

For the first time in a very long time I don't have any New Year's resolutions.  Not even secret ones that I don't bother to share just in case I fail and I admit, it feels great to start the year off this way!

I guess I made my resolutions back in early November when I decided to start running again.  Looking back, I'm glad that I did it that way because I just ran into the new year like nothing happened.  I had already established my habit and it felt great to start 2013 like that.

So even though I made no resolutions, my first race of the year is this Saturday.  It's the Resolution 5k on 1/12/13 which strikes me a little odd and funny that it wouldn't be on New Year's day but I guess it fits fairly well with my no resolution start to 2013.

The best part of this race is that my daughter will be running it with me! {She's the cutie in the picture at the top of this post}.  After I started running again a few months ago she started expressing interest in joining me.  She just turned 9 and when I told her about this race I also told her that there was a 1 mile fun run that I would be happy to enter her in.  That was not received well by this competitive little girl!  She promptly replied that she could have just as much fun running the "real" race.

I have no idea where she gets this competitive streak... ;)

I feel relatively ready for Saturday.  I still run pretty slow but I am running a solid 30 minutes now.  It's amazing how far I've come from my starting point of running 1 minute and walking 1.5 minutes x 6.  I think my biggest concern has to do with keep up with Chaney!  She's pretty fast so the race should be a lot of fun.

I have no time goal in mind.  I don't know if that makes me a "bad" runner but for my first race in 10 years my main goal is to have fun and enjoy watching Chaney.  We'll see how it goes!